Tag Archive: Hagiya Keigo

I have a growing list of Shounen Club (ザ少年倶楽部) pet-peeves, and at the top of that list is the way all the elder juniors – the reasonably popular juniors who are above eighteen years of age – are often lumped together into one big mega-group for performances even though this doesn’t do justice to their talents. And at the start of the first Shounen Club of September, here’s the same sort of thing:

It’s not quite all of them singing “Anniversary” by KinKi Kids, but it’s enough that it’s a jumble – especially since they’re all wearing white. Aside from Jesse, Nozawa Yuki, Sanada Yuma, Masuda Ryo, and Hanzawa Akatsuki, I did notice that we got a sudden influx of SnowMen. The members of that group don’t get much SC attention – not in a featured role like this – so that was a positive.

Pretty soon, A.B.C-Z, Johnny’s West, Nakajima Kento, Kikuchi Fuma, and Sato Shori took the stage, and things got really cluttered, but I like the whole-cast opening in general.

Note: this was a double episode, and is alternately referred to as Ep 11 as well as Ep 11 and 12.

So this is it – the last hour of SHARK Season 2. Right at the end of the previous episode and going into the beginning of this one, we get the ridiculous setup for the climactic battle between BtS and Cloud5 – that the two bands will face-off in front of fans again, and if Cloud5 loses, they’ll have to disband.

Now, even the most gullible viewer would have to scratch their heads at this. How can a record company force a band to disband? Even if the band is under contract, nothing in that contract could ever allow the company to compel the members to disassociate. At the most extreme (and I can’t think of a case of this) the group might have to change its name, but it’s relatively common for bands to switch labels. There are some peculiar situations – like Johnny’s – where everything is vertically integrated, but that’s not how it works when a label signs an independent rock group. The group retains certain rights – like the right to exist and to freely assemble.

Apparently, Matsuyuki wants to produce just one new group, and the company is willing to lose the potential profits from Cloud5 on his whim. First of all, what a lazy bum, not to mention a liar. But in any case the situation then should be that Cloud5 simply gets dropped from the company roster and becomes an independent band. I wonder if any other record company might want to take a chance on a popular young group that was just dumped by a label because their producer was an asshole?

And at what point do the members of Cloud5 all walk into Matsuyuki’s office and tell him to shove it? If, after having been manipulated as they have been, they are just going to be thrilled to be under Matsuyuki’s umbrella again, what sympathy do they deserve?

There is one unmistakable fact in SHARK Season 2 – Matsuyuki (Toyohara Kosuke) absolutely hates Cloud5 and takes extreme delight in bringing them down. Sure, he claims that the struggle will be for their good, but I wouldn’t trust a doctor who grins so malevolently when giving me an injection, nor a surgeon who talked excitedly about the need for surgery.

Of course, Matsuyuki isn’t the only frustrating character in this series. Kota (Yasui Kentaro) and Makoto (Kaede) are another two. Get ready for a lot more sneering and snide remarks from Kota and nonsensical remarks from Makoto.

Can you believe that Makoto actually tried to get Kota to come back by tapping into his concern about the pet fish, even though she knows that the original fish died because of her lack of care and the current one is a sneaky replacement? Got to hand it to her, she’s got some nerve.

Despite giving us the impression that Saku (Shigeoka Daiki) had rallied the band together at the end of the previous episode, Aruto (Abe Aran) is still non-cooperative and afraid to perform because he feels he can’t compete with Asahi (Iwahashi Genki). Why the other members don’t immediately sense this, I have no idea.

Things are really not going well for anybody in SHARK Season 2. True, Behind the Scenes managed to win the battle of the bands (with an unquestionably superior performance), but I doubt Kota (Yasui Kentaro) is at all satisfied with this victory over his former band, and Asahi (Iwahashi Genki) looks as morose as ever. Incidentally, BtS as a group looks surly and dismissive at everyone – they sure don’t give the impression that they enjoy doing what they do.

The situation is worse for Cloud5, though, as they now have doubts about their own ability to compete and whether they’ve made the right choices. Masayuki (Toyohara Kosuke) mercilessly stokes their insecurities, which makes me wonder what the heck Cloud5 ever did to him – he sure seems bent on some kind of revenge at this point. I don’t buy the ‘drama’ excuse for a second.

And just to make sure everyone feels sufficiently miserable, we finally discover who Asahi is – he’s the little brother of Kazuki (Fujii Ryusei), the former leader of SHARK, and he calls Kai (Hamada Takahiro) a traitor. Which Kai totally is, by the way.

I’m just going to plunge ahead in SHARK Season 2 because it’s about time I caught up on something from the Spring season, and the new Saturday drama started today.

Last time, Kai (Hamada Takahiro) decided to disband SHARK so he could become Cloud5’s guitarist. Let’s not mince words about it – he’s been thinking about it since episode one and acting like he was destined to do it.

Someone’s happy:

But Ichika (Yamashita Rio) must have some seriously complicated feelings about this.